Means for vessel propulsion.



No. 829,033. PATBNTBD AUG. 2.1, 1906.

T. RONSTROM.

MEANS EOE VESSEL PROPULSION. APPLmATIoN'HLnp H312. 1904..1J

Imirnnl sTAfrns rA'rENT OFFICE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented'Aug. 21, 1'9'06.

Application filed February 12, 1904. Serial No. 193,232.

' Toall/ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS RoNsTRoM, al subject of the King .of Sweden and Norway, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, havey invented new and useful Improvements in Means for Vessel Propulsion, of which the following is aspeciiication, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The purpose ofthis invention is to rovide an'im roved construction of a vesse to be propel ed b y motor and employing a screwpropeller or equivalent device. y'

It consists of the features of construction set out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat having my improvements. Fig. 2 is a section at the line 2 2 on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section at the line 3 3 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is'a section at the line 4 4 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section at the line 5 5 on Fig. 1.

. Figl is a section at the line 6 6 on Fig. 4.

my improved boat the propeller 1, in the customary form of a spiral lade or screw,

is located substantially midway in the length and width of the boat Within a substantially cylindrical housing or waterway 2, the axis of thepropeller and of said'housing being vhorizontal and lying in a vertical longitudinalmid-plane of the vessel. From each end of said horizontal f housing or Waterway two branches 3 3 lead divergently for a short distance to equal distances at opposite sides of said longitudinal mid-plane `and then become parallel and extend parallel with each other and with said mid-plane toward the bow and stern, emerging through the hull of the vessel as near together and as far from the bow and stern, respectively, as may be in view of the contour of the vessel consistently with such emergence occurring as far-below the waterline as ossible and without deflection from a direct ore-and-aft course after said branches become parallel. This results' in the mouth, of these ducts where they emerge through the hull being somewhat in the form shown in the side elevation, Fig. l-that'is to say, oval in oblique planes-on account of lthe hull being curved both longitudinally and transversel at the oint of such emergence. The propel er 1 has its yshaft journaledin the ends of the cylindrical housing 2 at the junction or point of divergence of the two branches 3 3 at eachl end and is provided at these oints with suitable stufIing-boxes 5 5 to exc ude the water from the interior of the hull. rotating it by separate engines located one in each of the forks or intervals between the diverging branches 3 3. The details of means for operating the shaft constitute no part of my invention and are shown only in the most limited conventional manner in the drawings. In order to afford access to the propel er for repairs, the housing 2 is divided horizontally at the axis of the propeller, the upper portion constituting a cap which is removableto afford the access desired. This cap may be made in two or more sections, an these sections are arranged to be bolted together with packing to plermit the junction to be water-tight, and t e entire cap is secured to the lower half of the housingy 1n similar manner. l In order tomake it possible to remove the cap of the propeller-housing while the yessel is 1n the water, gates 6 6 6 6 are provlded, one

vat each of the branches 3 3 3, which may be closed to exclude the water before the cap is to be removed. The water remaining in the housing will of course be exhaustedby pump in any convenient manner. For the purpose of excluding ice from the water-passages 3 3 3 3 the mouths of these passages at, the bow are provided with thin -horizontal plates 8 S 8 8, constituting a grating by which large blocks of iceA will be excluded, and even such as might lbe small enough to enter between the plates will be to some extent deiiected and prevented from passing through the passages and interfering the action of the propeller. The lates are calculated to deflect the ice, as a ove suggested, by virtue of their horizontal position and outer edges, which are beveled or cutaway to conform to the outline of the hull7 so that floating ice encountering the ends 'of the plates'or drawn vagainst them by the iniiowing current of wa- Power may be applied to the shaft for ter will be guided along vthe sloping horizontal edges past the mouth. It will be obvious that' this resultJ would not be obtained if the plates were vertical; but, on the contrary, l

vertical plates would tend to catch the ice and prevent even blocks too large to enter 'the mouth from gliding by the mouth, so

that the mouth might become obstructed by such blocks on account of the plates 1f the latter were vertical. These grating-plates -may be removably secured in any practicable When the boat is designed for manner. speed, this result may be bettery attained by reducing the discharge-aperture or emergence each end, said housing having a cap at the 4upper side, removable for access to the prol of the water-passages at the stern to cause the jet of water which 1s discharged therethrough to receive a highervelocity at its emergence, 'and I have so illustrated said passages 1n the drawings. The extent of taper or reduction of the mouth of the passages ma be greater or less, as desired, according to w ether more or less power and less or more speed is to be attained.

I claim- 1. A vessel having a substantially cylindrical propeller housing or waterwa)7 at the lower part of the hull having its axis in the vertical mid-plane of the hull; two-water-passages leading from each end of said housing or waterway symmetrically disposed with respect to said vertical mid-plane, and emerging through the hull toward the bow and stern res ectively; a rotary propeller in said housing aving its shaft journaled at the end thereof between the two water-passages at peller, and water-gates in each of the four Water-passages.

2. A vessel having a pro eller housing or waterway at the bottom o the hull; waterp'assages leading from each end of such water- Way or housing emerging through the hull below the water-line toward the bow and stern respectively; a propeller in the housing o erating to draw and force the water t rough such passages, the mouths of the In presence of-V CHAs. S.' BURTON, FREDK. G. FISCHER. 

